A series of scams involving blockchain developers have tarnished the image of Korea. Many foreigners jokingly said Korea is a ‘ land of swindlers’ in the blockchain business.

They said Korean blockchain developers are hungry for cash without devoting themselves to developing technologies.

Korea is noted for the world’s most active cryptocurrency trading, but this phenomenon triggered the bursting of a bubble in the cryptocurrency market. Korea had once accounted for 25 percent of the global cryptocurrency trading.

A foreign blockchain expert told The Block Media that the Korean market is in a bubble while the Chinese market is focused on developing the technology. The United States focuses itself on regulating the cryptocurrency trading.

The price difference of Bitcoin between Korea and the rest of the world was as high as 40 percent at one time in 2018. The ‘Kimchi’ premium was 40 percent. It means Bitcoin was 40 percent more expensive in Korea and the rest of the world.

Koreans are the world’s most short-term investors. They sometimes traded 19 cryptocurrencies in just 60 minutes.

Triggering the short-term investment is the pieces of information popping up in the social messenger services including Kakao Talk and Telegram.

A KakaoTalk social communication site sometimes attracts as many as 10,000 people, urging them to buy or sell specific coins.

Cryptocurrency vendors sometimes mobilize the online cryptocurrency sites, famous bloggers and YouTubers. They shower information and disinformation on cryptocurrencies, which often confuse investors and sway the market to the low or the high.